Colter's Canyon

I’ve spent nearly a month of starry nights sleeping below the Grand Canyon’s rim—lacing up my hiking boots and descending into the depths without giving much thought to the infrastructure that supports the national park’s five million annual visitors.

However, some of the rustic stone buildings that dot the rim—the same buildings that try to blend in and not make a fuss—have a unique story to tell. And that story is of early-20th-century American architect and designer Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter.

During a time when European styles were in vogue, Colter dared to bring Southwest and tribal influences to the architecture scene.

“The buildings she did here are masterpieces of rustic architecture,” says Pete Peterson, a Grand Canyon National Park ranger.

Colter, whose grand obsession at the Grand Canyon was the land and the natives who inhabited it, incorporated Mother Nature into every aspect of design. You might recognize the style today as “National Park Service rustic,” but at the time there was nothing like it. It’s just one of the myriad ways Colter was ahead of her time. Beyond the architecture, what makes the legendary Colter so intriguing is that she was a female architect in a male-dominated profession. “She broke gender barriers while working with the Fred Harvey Company and Santa Fe Railroad,” Peterson says.

Colter began as an interior designer, studying at the California School of Design in San Francisco. In 1902, the Fred Harvey Company—developer of the popular Harvey House chain of hotels, restaurants and gift shops— hired her to decorate the Indian Building at Albuquerque’s Alvarado Hotel.

But it wasn’t until she came to the Grand Canyon in 1910 to decorate the park’s signature hotel, El Tovar, that she earned a full-time position with the company, the title of chief architect and decorator, and most importantly, artistic freedom.

Colter designed 21 projects for the Fred Harvey Company throughout four decades, but many have dwindled as rail travel has. Grand Canyon National Park, however, is home to six Colter buildings that continue to impress visitors: Hopi House (1905), Lookout Studio (1914), Hermit’s Rest (1914), Phantom Ranch (1922), Desert View Watchtower (1932) and Bright Angel Lodge (1935). Most are National Historic Landmarks, and Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel Lodge are members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Hotels of America.

HERMIT’S REST

My personal favorite is Hermit’s Rest, not only because it’s the launching spot for one of the most scenic descents into the Canyon, but because the crooked-looking cobblestone structure looks like it’s been there since the dawn of time. And while it’s now 100 years old, Colter designed Hermit’s Rest to appear aged and lived-in on Day One.

Colter believed in the “marketing” of a project, and to her that meant having a story behind a building. Every nook and cranny was designed to look as though the “hermit” who built and inhabited the stone dwelling had just stepped out to forage for supper. The story she concocted is so elaborate that many consider Hermit’s Rest to be her most “Mary Colteresque” dwelling.

“The use of native stone makes Hermit’s Rest blend seamlessly into the edge of the rim,” Peterson notes.

A designer at heart, Colter even went so far as to smudge soot and strategically place cobwebs on the newly constructed fireplace—apparently garnering laughs from her employers. But the hearth is no laughing matter. Built under a massive stone arch and awe-inspiring vaulted ceiling, it’s a showstopper.

“Some people pick on Mary Colter for being a stickler for detail, but it’s probably why we remember her today,” says Grand Canyon historical architect Elizabeth Pidgeon.

The signature fireplace is one of the finest places on the rim to experience the same type of solitude and serenity that hikers like me seek when descending into the abyss itself.

PHANTOM RANCH

Despite the mile-deep descent and summer temperatures that can reach 120 F, Phantom Ranch is a perennial favorite among canyongoers. Nestled at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, it’s the only place you can sleep with a roof over your head below the rim. Those who make the journey by mule, foot or raft via the Colorado River are rewarded with rest and relaxation in a rustic village beneath a lush canopy of cottonwood trees.

The ranch includes a quaint gathering hall and a cluster ofsimple green-roofed cabins, and like most Colter buildings, was built using native stone.

“Unlike her other buildings, Phantom Ranch doesn’t have an elaborate backstory,” she adds. “It’s all about the sense of place and the journey.”

Although it was supposed to be named Roosevelt’s Chalets in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt for helping the Grand Canyon achieve national park status in 1919, Colter insisted it be called Phantom Ranch. I’m glad that the architect’s preference prevailed; I can’t imagine Phantom Ranch having the same sense of “ah” to weary travelers without its mystical moniker.

DESERT VIEW WATCHTOWER

While most of Colter’s canyon architecture is designed to fade into the landscape, Desert View Watchtower imposes itself upon the rim.

“At the time it was a very controversial building, being three stories tall and all,” ranger Peterson says, “but today it’s considered a masterpiece.”

Designed to resemble a Pueblo watchtower and provide the widest possible views of the canyon and desert beyond, the circular stone tower is an engineering wonder with a hidden steel framework made by the bridge department at the Santa Fe Railroad.

“It grows out of the ground and becomes one with its environment,” Pidgeon says.

Inside, murals painted by internationally acclaimed artist Fred Kabotie tell the story of Hopi creationism. “This isn’t the type of interior you hang pictures on,” she explains, “it’s like a sculpture you can walk through.”

Leaving a pile of rubble west of the tower, Colter gave Desert View its own backstory: the impression that it was the last remaining structure from an ancient community.

The view is spectacular, but what impresses me isn’t what can be seen from it, but the vantages from which the tower itself can be seen. Over backpackers throughout the eastern section of the park, the tower keeps watch—in view through every twist and turn of the trail.

I like to think it’s symbolic of all the great explorers of the past keeping a watchful eye as today’s intrepid travelers set out on their own canyon adventures. It transcends generations—much like Mary Colter.

BY JESSICA RUNBERG